The proem of Vergil's Aeneid — 'Arma virumque cano…' — is the most famous opening in Latin poetry. These eleven lines introduce Aeneas, his divine opposition, and the founding destiny of Rome. Use Philologus to get a full translation, submit your own for assessment feedback, build your vocabulary, and test yourself with exam-style quizzes.
Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris Italiam, fato profugus, Laviniaque venit litora…
Citation: Verg. Aen. 1.1–11.
I sing of arms and the man, who first from the shores of Troy, an exile by fate, came to Italy and the Lavinian shores…
Key vocabulary: cano (to sing, celebrate); profugus (exiled, fugitive); fatum (fate, destiny); litus (shore, coast).
Grammar focus for this passage: Dactylic hexameter scansion and poetic word order; Relative clauses and hyperbaton across line breaks; The proem's rhetorical structure (invocation, theme, scope); Key vocabulary: arma, cano, fatum, memorem, insignis, pietas; Ablative absolute and ablative of cause.
What tense is 'cano' in line 1? — Present indicative active — Vergil uses the present tense for the invocation, following Homeric convention.
Why is the word order so different from prose? — Epic poetry uses hyperbaton (displaced word order) for metrical and emphatic purposes. Philologus' syntax analysis shows you how to reassemble each clause.
Is this passage on my exam syllabus? — Aeneid 1.1–11 appears on most GCSE, A-Level, AP, and university Latin syllabi as a set text.